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Stackable furniture helps storm-hit communities

Stackable furniture is being set out in sports halls and other public spaces throughout storm-hit parts of England this evening, as communities deemed to be at severe risk of flooding are evacuated as a precautionary measure.

Much of the day's news has been dominated by the strong winds, which have left some households with no power, and have brought down trees and blown over heavy goods vehicles in some areas.

But as the evening high tide arrives to coastal regions, an unusually high storm surge - the largest for several decades - has put some towns and villages at particular risk.

And it's not just on the coast where some communities are under close supervision; along some of the UK's largest rivers, including the Trent, rising water levels are again a cause for concern.

This has led to thousands of residents being evacuated to higher ground from villages like Burringham in North Lincolnshire, with temporary accommodation created in nearby Scunthorpe's 'The Pods' leisure centre.

Stackable furniture has been set out to provide seating for as many people as possible, with spaces for those forced to remain there overnight to sleep.

It's an example of how stackable chairs - more commonly associated with business seminars and public speaker events - are being drafted in to provide people with comfortable temporary accommodation not just until the wind speeds drop, but until the waters of the storm surge recede back into the rivers and sea.

This is, of course, not the first storm to hit the UK in late 2013; London and much of the south was struck by the St Jude storm earlier in the year.

In the current period of heavy weather, Scotland, North Wales and much of the north of England have already been hit, and more southerly parts of the eastern coastline could face high water levels as the evening progresses into the night.

With further extreme weather likely as the winter continues, this may not be the last time stackable chairs are called into action not for daytime events and conferences, but to give evacuated families a place to spend the night - especially if there are not enough temporary beds to accommodate everybody.